“That's in the past,” said the University of New Hampshire football team's all-time leading tackler. “We can't really use that as motivation. We just lost to a Towson team pretty bad. None of us really played that well. That should fuel the fire.”

After the 64-35 loss to the Tigers that snapped a 10-game home win streak, the Wildcats feel fortunate they sill have a fire to fuel.

They had some serious doubts about whether they were going to get an at-large bid to the FCS playoff after their record dropped to 8-3 and they dropped into a four-way tie for first in the Colonial Athletic Association.

The Wildcats no longer controlled their own destiny, their streak of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances in jeopardy.

“Coming in we didn't know where we were going to stand,” said senior co-captain Dontra Peters. “We're all excited about getting another chance to play.”

Second chances are like turnovers. A lot depends on what you do with them.

“It's on to the next one,” said senior co-captain Chris Zarkoskie. “It doesn't matter what happened before. You can't let prior success lull you into complacency and you can't let prior failure shove you down a bad path. We can only control the future now.”

That's what made Selection Sunday so difficult. The Wildcats had lost control.

They quickly lost control of their emotions when the New Hampshire-Wofford second-round matchup was first up on the big screen.

It provided tangible evidence that UNH had qualified for the postseason for the ninth year in a row, the longest active streak in the nation.

“The thing that was so bad about this it was in somebody else's hands,” said coach Sean McDonnell. “Everything was in our hands until 3:30 (Saturday) afternoon. That's the tough thing. You think you deserve it, but I've seen teams not go.”

The news triggered a spontaneous celebration from Wildcat players and coaches along with other school officials who had gathered in the team's locker room to watch the show.

They didn't have to wait long to learn their fate.

“I was on edge like everybody else,” said receiver R.J. Harris. “We were nervous. They got right to it. They didn't talk. I was excited about that.”

“It's a great feeling,” McDonnell said, “but more importantly it's a great feeling in that room. I'm sure they felt the same way I did waking up (Sunday) morning — that somebody else is making the decision on whether we're getting in.”

UNH squandered that opportunity on Saturday against a hungry Towson team that ran the ball at will.

The Tigers gained 660 total yards, including 433 on the ground. The Wildcats trailed 30-28 at halftime, but were outscored 34-7 in the second half.

“We were lucky to be in the game at halftime,” McDonnell said,. “and in the second half we could not get off the field at all.”

UNH forced Towson to punt only once all day.

“It was a tough loss,” Peters said. “We got knocked down a bit. We've just got to get back on the horse and keep going.”

The Wildcats haven't lost back-to-back games all season. To avoid it they'll have to beat an opponent that ranks second nationally in rushing.

Wofford averages almost 350 yards a game.

“I think we're going to show our resiliency and bounce back from this,” said sophomore running back Nico Steriti. “We're going top practice hard and get after it.”

The Wildcats are scheduled to practice today and Wednesday morning before going home for the Thanksgiving break. They'll return to campus next Sunday and start preparing for the Terriers.

The game is Saturday, Dec. 1, in Spartanburg, S.C. Wofford, which is in the playoffs for the fifth time in six years, features a triple-option attack.

“You know what they're going to do,” McDonnell said. “They're going to run the football. We have to really circle the wagons and get better at stopping the run or we're going to be in serious trouble.”